Zoltan Mikoczy lines up Overdose for victory in the King's Stand Stakes

Overdose’s owner Zoltan Mikoczy has a Group One victory in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot as the priority of the Hungarian sprinter’s trip to Britain.

Mikoczy’s pride and joy arrived at Amanda Perrett’s stables in Pulborough, West Sussex, last weekend and all eyes will be on him in Saturday’s betfred.com Temple Stakes at Haydock.

Overdose’s tale is already an extraordinary one. Bought from Tattersalls for just 2,000 guineas as a yearling in 2006, the son of Starborough has a startling record of 15 wins from 16 starts and is supported fervidly in his nation of residence.

After outgrowing domestic and then central European opposition, he continued on the winning trail in Germany before ‘winning’ the Prix de l’Abbaye that never was in 2008, blasting home first in France’s top sprint only for his distraught connections to realise it had been declared a false start.

Double act: Zoltan Mikoczy and Overdose

There were incredible scenes when Overdose reappeared the following April at his home course of Kincsem Park as thousands turned out to see the ‘Budapest Bullet’ win in a canter and the comparisons continued with the great American horse Seabiscuit as a beacon of positivity amid hard economic times.

As well as being considered the country’s best horse since Kincsem, a champion of the 1880s, Overdose appears to have been credited with entirely reinvigorating the Hungarian racing industry.

But he was not to race again that season because of a foot abscess, revealed by Mikoczy to be almost career-threatening and his life became rather shrouded in mystery as only occasional updates on his well-being appeared.

Overdose met with his first defeat the following year when playing up in the stalls at Baden-Baden but normal service resumed when he took a conditions event at Hoppegarten in impressive fashion on April 17, in a course-record time.

Whether Mikoczy, a steel magnate, is prone to hyperbole or simply highly enthusiastic could have been lost in translation, but he is clearly devoted to his horse.

'The racing in Hungary is getting better, thanks to Overdose and his achievements,' he said.

'There was a time in the 1990s when there was a deliberate attempt by the government to finish it off.

'Kincsem Park is close to the centre of Budapest and they wanted the place for development. They tried to run the racing down and they almost achieved it.

'The country has been hungry for some sort of sporting success. The football has been bad and they started to find out about Overdose’s achievements.

'If he had been trained in France or Germany it would not have been that big a story, but it brought something back to the people.

'The government realised there was something behind the whole thing and they have started to reinvest. The interest in him is massive - the whole country is in fever.'

Overdose is half-owned by Hungarian companies and when he is retired, probably by the end of next season, a handful of the nation’s mares will be sent to him wherever he stands at stud.

As there is only one racecourse and roughly 200 horses in training, Mikoczy is keen for him to leave a legacy.

While his looks are not out of the ordinary, he is a clearly powerful and well-proportioned individual and his bay coat shone with health as he was paraded this morning.

'It would be a dream for Overdose to win the races at Haydock and Ascot, then it would bring him up to stud level,' Mikoczy said.

'I trust the outstanding quality of the horse, but the most important thing this weekend is for him to run a race where he can show his best for the next step at Ascot. I’d like him to run well enough, and for nothing bad to happen.

'In 1914 a Hungarian horse called Adular won the King’s Stand and Royal Ascot is the first part of the dream.

'The second part is to go to France again, and if he gets to the Breeders’ Cup, that would be the cream on top.'

Overdose’s every whim is catered for, including driving the nervous traveller’s horsebox at over 100 kilometres per hour, as at any slower he gets upset.

'Everything goes into the horse, every minute of life, to achieve our goals,' Mikoczy added.

'I have 43 others but Overdose is the most important. I’ve been so lucky to find him, I never thought I would be so lucky.'